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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Famed for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to oppose the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his last days, remembers his sense of urgency. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its legacy can still be felt in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their work. That’s why she is relaunching it to mark its decade milestone. Among the key participants involved this time are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. Each has created visual art, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about maths (calculating the distances between trees), biology (exploring the apple’s DNA), and origins (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries histories attached. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see the variety and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, one artist’s project on disappearance will involve participants searching Tate Modern on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a chime will sound and a reading will be held to commemorate that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be hosting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as holding a shared meal, cooked from regional food. Further north, an artist is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which local singers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in children’s artwork that express their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may inspire a feeling of duty from everyone. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is aiming to address an iconic figure. He is also organizing a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. The project began when he endured three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and